"History is a wonderful thing, if only it was true"
-Tolstoy

Monday, April 25, 2011

WWF Politics?

Politics of smack down vs rational thought - well, it should make the media happy.


"Democrats railed against big-money political advertising groups in 2010. Now, they're forming their own network of such groups for 2012."


on Republicans

Sometime last year - she gets it right


Meghan McCain on the GOP:

Rather than the party of openness and individual freedom, it is now the party of limited message and less freedom.

Along with ideological narrowness the important PR battle is being lost.

Rather than leading us into the exhilarating fresh air of liberty, a chorus of voices on the radical right is taking us to a place of intolerance and anger

Sunday, April 24, 2011

On how to have a discussion

A Code of Conduct for Effective Rational Discussion — LimbicNutrition Weblog

Easter Dinner

Quiet day with my bride
Steak 'n Shake



Because
A National Hamburger Chain We Can Be Proud Of - Taste of America: Six Things I Want to Eat in 2011 - TIME


(note: photo not of Steak & Shake burger)

There are some great hamburger chains in the U.S. — places whose patties are beefy, juicy and fresh, and are served nestled between halves of a properly airy and toasted bun. But sadly, they are all regional chains — Steak 'n Shake in the Midwest, Smashburger in the mountain states, the Counter in Southern California. When will a national burger chain come into being that serves something along these lines? I believe that this is the year. Too much money is being made by these minichains for the big national ones to ignore their success. Last year's stunt burgers and other marketing initiatives are over; now the long climb toward genuine quality control begins. But who will be the ones to pull it off?"

link collections

‘Longevity Project’ - Review - In 80-Year Study, Good News for the Diligent - NYTimes.com

Review & Outlook: The Obama Speech Downgrade - WSJ.com

Obama’s Young Mother Abroad - NYTimes.com

Online Help for Those Who Want to Make Tangible Stuff - NYTimes.com

FT.com / Comment / Opinion - Tighten your seatbelts: 2011 could be worse than 2010

Friday, April 15, 2011

Endurance

found tonight, use to manage this stuff ... 24hr racing, 4PM Saturday to 4PM Sunday



Tuesday, April 12, 2011

e pluribus unum

Soros, Bretton Woods II And The Twilight Of The Gods - Ralph Benko - A Golden Age - Forbes:
"Rather than State-controlled or Big Business-controlled economies … why not look to the people?
On February 7, 2000, The New Yorker’s John Cassidy wrote in a piece both brilliantly insightful and rigorously honest, “The Price Prophet,” that “It is hardly an exaggeration to refer to the twentieth century as the Hayek century.”

Not Keynes. Hayek.

Cassidy encapsulates the core insight of Hayek as follows.“This view of capitalism as a spontaneous information-processing machine—a ‘telecommunications system’ was how Hayek referred to it—was one of the great insights of the century. It may have been implicit in the work of some previous economists, notably Adam Smith, but Hayek was the first to spell it out. Even left-wing economists, who regarded capitalism primarily as a system of social exploitation, were eventually forced to concede the acuity of Hayek’s analysis….”"

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Glut

Planning on making a killing with all your "stuff" on e-Bay?
Think again - simple supply & demand
Supply is high and growing - means crash in prices.

Downsizing Boomers Looking to Sell Their Stuff - SmartMoney.com:
"With some 8,000 Americans turning 65 every day, on average, and the senior population expected to double by 2050, millions are facing a massive, multifaceted purge that's turning out to be much tougher than they thought it would be. And millions more find themselves in similar quandaries as they deal with the truckloads they've inherited from packrat relatives. Indeed, whether they're leaving an heirloom china set at the local consignment store or packing a stately grandfather clock off to Sotheby's, many are discovering that the resale market is glutted with household goods. And oriental rugs are only the beginning. Got a home full of middle-market, traditional-style furniture to sell? Dealers say that stuff's plunged 50 to 75 percent in value."

Saturday, April 09, 2011

North

Caribbean ?
Aegean, that wine dark sea?





Nope
Lake Michigan, looking due north, Good Harbor Bay this afternoon